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New leather all-weather mats installed: very distinctive and high quality

Not being a fan of rubber or sisal mats of any kind for my Model S, I've always been interested in finding mats that will protect my beige carpet in inclement weather and look like they were designed for the car with some aesthetics in mind. Until today I used thick plastic pieces over the carpet, which had a kind of artificial quality. I continued to look but had a hard time finding products that suited my taste.

A few weeks ago when surfing eBay for Tesla parts I accidentally came across a site that offered leather mats custom made in China for major brands, including Tesla Model S. They're offered in 8 colors -- black, brown, coffee, beige, orange, gray, red, and purple. They're also billed as anti-slip and environmentally friendly (whatever that means).

I was highly suspicious of how leather mats would look, and more importantly, perform, but as a set was not too expensive ($145) I ordered a beige set. They were shipped from China via Priority Mail Express and arrived in 5 days.

They were delivered to my home on Wednesday and I was very impressed. The quality is quite good, the quilted-effect stitching perfect, and all-in-all the quality surpassed my expectations. They're also very light weight. I'm not convinced that they're actually leather or a vinyl look alike but I don't know how to confirm that. And given the look and purpose I'm ok with vinyl. I wasn't sure about how they had been waterproofed, so before even fitting them in my Model S, I sprayed on three layers of Kiwi Camp Dry Heavy Duty Water Repellent. As the spray takes 4 hours between coats and a full 24 hours to completely dry, I wasn't able to install the mats in the car until this morning.

The fit of the two front mats was exceptional, as the photos below show. The driver's mat has a heel pad as well as protection for the dead pedal, and the mats have vertical sides that protect both the kick panel and console sides. The rear mat does not fit as well, the principal problem being that vertical section of the mat that protects the base portion of the rear seats extends too far. But that can be trimmed a few inches for a more perfect fit.

I took a few photos of the driver's mat before installation and both driver's and passenger mats in the car. I like the look very much -- the beige color doesn't match my interior perfectly but it's close enough. Now the major question is durability, cleaning, and how well they shed water and dirt over time. I'm guessing they can be just sprayed clean with a hose, but I'll report on that as the winter progresses.

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